Testing & Results

Testing Methodology

I used the Genius Gila gaming mouse for one week on an average of about six hours per day. I performed a variety of professional and casual daily tasks mainly utilizing Microsoft Office products (Outlook, Excel, Word) and Adobe products (Photoshop, Dreamweaver). In addition, I played a number of games including Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Assassin's Creed III, and Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor.

Results

As you all well know, a gaming mouse is not judged according to the number of buttons it has. In fact, many of the designs with more than the typical compliment of buttons often turn out to be awkward in the sense that the buttons are rarely placed in a fashion that promotes a normal level of dexterity. No matter how well built it is, if you have to contort your hand and wrist to reach a button, what's the point? That is one of the features I found to be refreshing about the Genius Gila gaming mouse. Every button, at least for my fingers, was within reach and easily depressed with little effort. Of course, a mouse is not a "one size fits all" proposition, so results may vary. The Gila is being marketed by Genius as an MMO/RTS gaming mouse, and the additional buttons, along with the ideal placement, will come in handy for use in those genre of games. However, it is blatantly obvious that FPS gamers will benefit from this design. Why else would it have a "sniping" feature?

Adjustable DPI is, more often than not, incorporated into the design of a gaming mouse. In fact, I think it's safe to say that it is now a standard feature. What I don't understand is having the ability to go all the way up to 8200 DPI. Who actually sets the DPI at that level? I generally stay around the 2000 DPI level, but that will vary depending upon the game. However, I think that's a way of Genius really promoting what they've "got under the hood," which is the NXP LPC11U14 microcontroller. Genius claims that the NXP LPC11U14 provides the Gila with a response time that is "8 times quicker than typical gaming mice."

The Scorpion UI was not unlike other GUIs I've used with other gaming mice. One of the positive features that caught my attention was the aforementioned "Instant Button" capability, which allows the user to, basically, borrow a macro from another profile. However, the issue I had was that there was no keystroke option available. In gaming mice I've used before, you can easily assign a keystroke to a button through the GUI. The Scorpion UI does not include this feature, so you pretty much have to record a macro to assign a keystroke. This is not that big of a deal, but I thought it was noteworthy. A suggestion I have for Genius is that, in the future, provide the ability to assign profiles to programs. For example, the Logitech G9x allows a user to assign a program to a profile, so once you open a program, the mouse will automatically switch to the profile assigned to that program.

I mentioned this earlier, but I was a bit apprehensive initially in terms of the comfort level I would experience while using an ambidextrous mouse with a 12-button design. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was the mouse a great fit for my hand, but the button placement was perfect. The only detractor from a comfort standpoint is that the mouse gets a bit warm on the top causing my hand to perspire.

Amazon has these mice for $67.44.That seems reasonable if it performs as stated.A reviewer at Newegg complained about "buggy software."I'd buy it from Amazon since they have a very liberal return policy, which is why I buy most such items from them.The only reason I'd buy elsewhere is because they may not happen to carry what I want at the moment.